Tonight in HD: May 2

SoHo Highlight: The Killing (Sky 10, 8.30, 5.1) With episode three, “the show dives back full force into the investigation instead of playing catch-up for the viewers who either forgot what happened or quit watching because they were tired of the cheap tricks,” Paste magazine said. “The most pleasing aspect about the episode was that there was no major twists in the final moments.” The AV Club said it also reveals The Killing has a sense of humour. “For some reason it doesn’t rain at all during Numb. That’s part of why season two feels slightly different, less emphatic and clear-cut. It’s not more complicated than season one, but it’s finally reflecting that complexity in its structure is changing, possibly for the better, but at this moment, it definitely needs to pick up its game.” Numb was directed by Fringe veteran Brad Anderson, who also helmed The Machinist. ✮✮✮

Home & Away (TV3, 5.30) Sasha discovers Felix may not need her; Henri chooses between her career and Casey; Dex gets ‘bad boy’ coaching. ✮✮

Friends (TV2, 6.30, R) The friends leave for Ross and Emily’s wedding in London. ✮✮✮✮

Shortland Street (TV2, 7.00) Vasa stoops to a new low; the rebound club struggles to move forward; Phoenix is caught in Hayley’s trap. ✮✮✮

Two and a Half Men (TV2, 7.30, 5.1) When Walden’s ex-wife and his mother try to take control of his company and vote him off the board, he enlists Alan as his boardroom ally. ✮✮

Road Cops (TV3, 7.30) Season premiere: Officers are alerted to an armed offender on the loose; NZ’s next big rap star comes unstuck; constables confront a drunken street brawl. ✮✮

2 Broke Girls (TV2, 8.00, 5.1) In the midst of her new obsession with couponing, Caroline discovers the secret ingredient to Max’s cupcakes. ✮✮

The GC (TV3, 8.00) Series premiere: A group of bronzed, beautiful and ambitious young Maori live the dream on The Gold Coast. The title suggests a heavyhanded spoof of The OC but the reality apparently is much worse: “Jersey Shore on the Gold Coast, with ‘Mozzies’ instead of ‘Guidos’,” wrote Nick Grant in the Herald on Sunday. “Yup, in a remarkable example of accelerated devolution in action, what was originally conceived as a documentary series with an intriguing premise has been delivered into the world as a bawling, puking ’n’ pooping ‘reality’ show … The GC is not so much an insult to viewers’ intelligence as a violent assault. It puts the ‘super’ into superficial and plays like an unintended demonstration of Robert Muldoon’s contention that ‘New Zealanders who emigrate to Australia raise the IQ of both countries.'” ✮

Castle (TV One, 8.30, 5.1) Castle and Beckett work a murder case in which Ryan’s stolen gun was the weapon. ✮✮

The Big Bang Theory (TV2, 8.30, 5.1) Everything could change when Leonard offers Penny a spur-of-the-moment invitation to a romantic dinner for two on the 100th episode of the series. Not to be missed: Sheldon’s disappointment at finding the life-size Mr Spock cardboard standup he ordered is of Zachary Quinto’s Vulcan from the JJ Abrams Star Trek film and not Leonard Nimoy’s Spock. ✮✮✮✮

The Almighty Johnsons (TV3, 8.30) A rescue mission, a roast chicken, a very small car and, for one particular person, the weirdest day ever. ✮✮✮

Happy Endings (TV2, 9.00, 5.1) Will & Grace’s Megan Mullally returns as Penny’s mother, when when she pops up as the new girlfriend of Dave’s father; Alex adopts a parrot. ✮✮

Harry’s Law (TV One, 9.30, 5.1, F) Harry defends her next-door neighbour who was mistakenly investigated as a sex offender; Oliver finds a challenging adversary in a family dispute. (This lighthearted law drama ends its season-two run five episodes shy of the official finale, so Castle can usurp its slot next week and a new season of Undercover Boss USA can air 8.30.) ✮✮

Sons of Anarchy (TV3, 9.30, 5.1) SAMCRO negotiates with the Irish Kings to secure the future of the club and Opie confronts Clay over Piney’s death. The AV Club called this “a very tense episode” that’s shorter than “last week’s minor epic, and a much more satisfying one”. Entertainment Weekly’s Ken Tucker confessed: “Once again, Sons of Anarchy upended my expectations this week. I had figured that the episode just before the start of next week’s two-part, season finale might just be a putting-things-in-place hour; the setting of a few traps; a building-up of dread. Well, this edition, titled Burnt and Purged Away, was all that, and quite a bit more.” ✮✮✮✮

Nikita (TV2, 10.30, 5.1) Nikita decides it’s getting too risky for Alex to stay at Division and encourages her to disappear. ✮✮

Feedback (TV2, 11.30, R) Orlando tries to clear his conscience with a very public and sexually-charged apology that lands him in even more hot water; Arthur tries to force the network to put him back into primetime. ✮✮

CSI: New York (TV3, 11.15, 5.1, R) The investigation of a brutal stabbing takes a dangerous turn when it’s discovered that evidence at the crime scene was planted, which pits the CSIs against a trusted colleague. ✮✮

This Is Not My LIfe (TV One, 11.55, R) Gordy thinks he has won the girl but he needs Alec’s help to find out about her past. ✮✮

Sky Movies Premiere: Beastly (Sky 20, 8.30, 5.1) A humiliated high school Goth casts a spell on her tormentor that turns him into a physically repugnant creature — and which only true love can reverse. The New York Times dubbed it “the kind of cornball entertainment that rainy afternoons were made for” but Variety was far less charitable: “A kiss may cure the monster, but not even campy performances from Mary-Kate Olsen and Neil Patrick Harris can save this ugly snarl of cliches.” (2011) ✮✮